Young Afghan women take radio liberties

PAMELA CONSTABLEThe Washington Post

Published Tuesday, November 04, 2003

MAZAR-E SHARIF, Afghanistan -- Working from a one-room studio with a gas lantern for illumination and two car batteries for power, a group of young Afghan women are transmitting a low-watt, revolutionary message to female listeners in the vicinity of this remote northern city.

In addition to popular music, live newscasts, humor and chats on child care, Radio Rabia Balkhi (89.7 FM) airs recorded essays and features on more daring topics such as "women and the constitution," how to seek treatment for mental illness and the right of abused wives to divorce.

It also answers listeners' letters, ranging from complaints about poor conditions at women's college dormitories to protests from female doctors that they have not received their hospital salaries. There are also poignant pleas for help from individual women, trapped by tradition with nowhere to turn.

One was from an 11th-grade student whose parents forcibly engaged her to a much older, illiterate man after receiving a substantial sum. An announcer read the letter on the air, identifying her only as "M," and offered suggestions for other young women trapped in such situations.

"We advise parents not to sell girls for money, and we advise girls to reason with their parents," said Farida Paktin, a radio and television veteran who founded the station in March with financial assistance from a Canadian nonprofit agency. "If that doesn't work, they should seek help from other relatives to ask a court to break off the engagement."

Most female listeners have no way to write such appeals, however, because more than 80 percent of women in northern Afghanistan are illiterate. Although Mazar-e Sharif is a large city with a co-ed university, the surrounding region is rural, and many village girls and women rarely leave home except to visit relatives or work in the fields.

But word of Rabia Balkhi, named for a famous 9th-century Afghan female poet, has spread fast. Although it is on the air only two hours a day and its tiny transmitter reaches less than three miles, its mix of entertainment, news and practical information for women has already drawn a wide audience.

A larger women's radio station was opened simultaneously on March 8, International Women's Day, in Kabul, the capital, with funds from Canadian and American donors. A third was inaugurated last week in Herat, a major city near the border with Iran.

"Many women in our culture cannot leave their homes at all, so this is the only way to reach them," said Shiqiba Mohid, 25, a reporter for the station. Most residents receive their news and information from local radio and TV, which are state-controlled and bland.

"When I go into the bazaars, women tell me they are listening and they want more than two hours a day," she said.

In some cases, Rabia Balkhi staffers said, simply presenting an available public service in a non-threatening way, using women's voices, can melt taboos and open up new worlds.

One recent program featured a visit to a mental health hospital, with female patients describing feelings of anxiety and suffocation familiar to tens of thousands of Afghan women.

Then came a reassuring male doctor's voice, urging women to seek treatment before their symptoms became too pronounced, and an announcer speaking about the mental effects of war and poverty.

"People in Afghanistan feel shame about mental illness and don't want people to know a relative is sick," the announcer said. "They keep it hidden, and that makes it worse."

After listening to such programs, said Farida Rostankhel, 23, a radio staff member, some conservative family heads in the region, who had refused to let their wives visit hospitals or their daughters attend school, changed their minds.

But even though each daily broadcast begins with a recitation from the Koran, Rabia Balkhi's provocative message has already aroused opposition from influential Islamic clerics in the region who view themselves as guardians of Afghanistan's conservative, male-dominated mores.

After the station began airing a series of programs on women's divorce rights, a group of senior clergy visited the studio, alleging that the broadcasts encouraged women to leave their husbands and demanding that the series be stopped. Paktin said they had no choice but to comply.

"We cannot say anything to the mullahs, or they will put the stamp of infidelism on us," she said. Now, the offensive weekly feature, called "Yesterday's Woman and Today's Woman," has been replaced with news.

"There was a misunderstanding, so we canceled it," said Mubina Khairandesh, 25, the station manager. "This is a very traditional society. If we make direct criticisms, it is turned into a religious issue. So we just make indirect criticisms, in jokes and satires."